Cadet Forces

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Westminster Hall

15:59

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the role of cadet forces.

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. On Remembrance Sunday, I stood alongside other Bracknell residents at our war memorial in the town centre and reflected on the service of our armed forces and the sacrifices that they have made to protect us, including, of course, the ultimate sacrifice. It was an honour to stand there as Bracknell’s MP in my first year in the role. The ceremony concluded, and we processed to the church for a service of remembrance. There were proud veterans and proud military families marching with us, as well as a very large number of young people from Bracknell’s local cadet forces, all turned out in their uniforms on a Sunday morning to take part and honour our armed forces. I know that the picture was the same in services up and down the country.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for bringing forward this debate. I will mention the representation that our cadet forces make in our local communities, because I too see it week in, week out, particularly on Remembrance Sunday. I think of the 1444 Brownhills squadron, the 425 Aldridge squadron and T.S. Vigo in Walsall Wood—there are many of them, but I will mention just a few. As a Member of Parliament, they make me incredibly proud when I see them. I hope that we can continue to support those groups up and down the country as well as all the people who work behind the scenes—the volunteers and the families—to support them in the work they do to serve our communities.

[Peter Swallow]

I will touch on many of the points made by the right hon. Member, but her intervention really shows that the commitment to our cadets and the volunteers who support them is felt across the House.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate on cadet forces. In Slough, we have the Sea Cadets, Air Cadets and Army Cadets, which provide a fantastic development and learning opportunity for young people as well as playing an invaluable part in community events and services. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to ensure that the cadet expansion programme is sufficiently funded, so that more young people can benefit from the amazing opportunities provided by being a cadet?

[Peter Swallow]

My hon. Friend speaks with great weight on this topic as the Chair of the Defence Committee. In that role, it is important that he recognises the huge contribution of not only our armed forces, but the cadets, so I welcome him taking part in this debate.

I will come on to the cadet expansion scheme later in my speech, but it is really important that we think about expanding all cadet forces, not just Combined Cadet Forces, although they are important. The cadet expansion scheme is very much targeted at CCF, so I would like to see it being well funded and looking across the five cadet forces.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman on bringing forward this debate. Cadet forces have featured very much in my life and in Northern Ireland. I declare an interest as a former solider for the Ulster Defence Regiment and for the Royal Artillery for some 11 and a half years. Across Northern Ireland, some 200 cadets and 50 adult volunteers, representing both the 1st and 2nd battalion Army Cadet forces, marched proudly through the streets of Ballyclare when they were first established back in October last year.

In Northern Ireland, the cadets bring both communities —the Protestants and Roman Catholics; the nationalists and the Unionists—together to serve in uniform. That is really important. We in Northern Ireland are very aware of that far-reaching goal, which they achieve. Everyone should be able to serve in the British Army, the Air Force or the Royal Navy without fear of attack from anyone. The cadet forces play their part in Northern Ireland. Does the hon. Gentleman, like me, very much welcome their reorganisation?

[Peter Swallow]

I really welcome that intervention, which demonstrates the role that the cadets play in every corner of the United Kingdom and shows how important it is that opportunities for young people are shared across our regions and nations.

I return to the Remembrance Sunday service in Bracknell, which I was proud to attend. There I saw young people who had given up their Sunday mornings and woken up far earlier than any teenager wants to at the weekend to do something important: to remember. In October, I visited the Bracknell Army Cadets, alongside my hon. Friend the Minister for Veterans and People and Councillor Georgia Pickering, Bracknell Forest council’s armed forces champion. I hope that the Minister will not mind my saying that he offered deep inspiration to the young people he spoke to, sharing his own personal stories of service, bravery and sacrifice in the armed forces. I hope he will also not mind my saying that I believe that the cadets, in turn, inspired him with their stories, their drive and their thoughtful questions.

In November I was privileged to visit Brackenhale school and meet its combined cadet force contingent. It was a real pleasure to see how staff, students and volunteers are rightly passionate about the impact that CCF has in creating a sense of belonging and teamwork among students, as well as supporting their wellbeing. There is an assumption that only private schools have CCFs; Brackenhale, however, is a state school. To challenge another stereotype, almost half of cadets in Berkshire are female.

It is crucial that the benefits of participation in the cadet forces should be open to all. As of April last year, almost 150,000 young people were involved in the cadets across the country, with 90,000 in the Army, Air, Sea or volunteer Cadets and 50,000 in the CCF. In the south-east, our cadet forces are supported brilliantly by the South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association, or SERFCA. I pay tribute to its outstanding work in supporting the cadets and the community of Bracknell. Its commitment to defence is truly inspirational.

The cadets provide a range of unique opportunities for young people to gain qualifications for CV enhancement, skill acquisition and personal development. For many, membership of the cadets had been a lifeline, providing positive guidance in times of crisis. For others, it is simply a fun thing to do and an opportunity to try new experiences with friends.

[Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)]

I received some correspondence from John McMillan from Sidmouth. He and his two brothers joined the Air Training Corps in the 1970s. Two of them went on to serve with the Royal Air Force and John himself went on to become a commercial pilot with British Airways, despite there being no previous connection to aviation whatever in his family. Does the hon. Gentleman recognise the value of the cadets to social mobility and providing opportunities?

[Peter Swallow]

I absolutely agree. In fact, in 2021, the University of Northampton published an independent report into the cadet forces, led by Professor Simon Denny. Based on data gathered from more than 5,500 cadets, the report highlighted the strong benefits of cadet membership, including improved career prospects and, as the hon. Member said, social mobility.

The report stressed that the positive impact of the cadets was particularly strong for those who suffered economic and other disadvantages. Cadets tend to have a higher sense of self-esteem, heightened aspirations, a heightened sense of social responsibility and a higher respect of authority than their peers. Participation in CCF, the Denny report states, is also associated with improved school attendance, preventing serial absenteeism and changing young people’s life outcomes in the long run. It has also proven to boost communication, resilience, leadership and social skills, all of which businesses and employers look for in young people. That, in turn, makes the cadets a wonderful tool of social mobility, supporting children from different backgrounds with different needs, including those with special educational needs, and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The Denny report found that cadets eligible for free schools meals had higher self-confidence than their non-cadet peers.

Crucially, cadet forces ensure that young people, and the country as a whole, are more familiar with the fantastic work of our armed forces. It is important to remember that the cadets are not a recruitment tool for the services, but it is certainly true that, by expanding an understanding of what it means to serve in the armed forces, the cadets give more young people the opportunity to consider whether a forces career might be for them. The armed forces face a recruitment and retention crisis, with targets missed every year out of the past 14. I cannot emphasise enough that cadets are not a recruitment tool, but when we are facing such a significant challenge, anything that can be done to raise awareness of what it means to serve must surely be part of the overall solution.

Whatever path cadets take after they leave their troop, it is undoubtedly a good thing that they have come to understand more deeply the important role our armed forces play in keeping this nation safe. For example, two recent graduates of the Bracknell Army Cadets have gone on to become paramedics, and are looking to come back as adult volunteers after they have completed their paramedic training.

As we recognise the incredibly positive impact of cadet forces on young people, it is also critical to acknowledge the adult volunteers who make the whole thing run. The volunteers are instrumental in mentoring young cadets and instilling in them the values that go on to shape their futures. Their contribution to the lives of these young people is truly invaluable, and we simply could not run the cadets without them. Some of the volunteers I spoke with during my visits to local cadet forces had military backgrounds themselves, but many had no prior experience with the armed forces; they were simply interested in supporting young people, or were volunteering because of the impact that the cadets had had on their route to adulthood.

More than 26,000 adult volunteers work across the five cadet forces. To be an adult volunteer requires a huge commitment, which is too often overlooked. As the Denny report found, adult volunteers each provide around 400 hours of volunteering per year—a total of 10.4 million hours a year for all volunteers. Many of the volunteers I spoke to spend their weekends running activities for the cadets while undertaking training so that they can perform in their roles better. Running regular sessions each week also takes up much time, and many struggle to juggle their commitment to the cadets with their jobs. That is all in the context of performing a highly complex role, working with children, with all the issues around safeguarding that they need to stay on top of.

I ask the Minister: what more can be done to ensure that the valuable role of adult volunteers in the cadets is recognised, through awards, recognition and other policies? What more can be done to ensure that they can more easily balance their work and other commitments with their dedication to the cadets? As I say, without adult volunteers, cadet forces cannot run. In these challenging times, with the rising cost of living, volunteers are too often forced to deprioritise their commitment to volunteering because they are being pulled in too many directions. In CCFs, school staff are already under significant pressure in their day jobs, so what can be done to ensure sufficient numbers of volunteers to support our valuable cadet forces?

The funding of the five cadet forces is complex, and each is independent of the others, but it is estimated that the Ministry of Defence spends around £180 million on the cadet forces annually. The Denny report notes:

“There is no single figure that can be said to identify the return on investment. However, where calculations of financial return can be carried out based on models produced by HM Government, their sum is vastly more than the annual cost of the Cadet Forces.”

The report concludes:

“Spending c. £180 million a year on the Cadet Forces is an excellent use of taxpayers’ money.”

With that in mind, will the Minister set out more clearly how the five cadet forces are funded and to what extent the funding has kept pace with inflation over time? The Department for Education recently ended a £1 million scheme that aimed to support school staff instructors in state schools. What has that funding cut meant for CCFs on the ground? Given the broader context of the funding pressures that have been affecting each of the combined forces over the last decade, will the Minister set out what continued support there is for CCFs? Under the previous Government, much emphasis was placed on expanding access to school-based CCFs. Will the Minister say whether similar schemes have been looked at to support the other cadet forces, to drive an increase in the number of cadets serving in the Army, Air, Sea and volunteer Cadets, as well as in CCFs?

As I have already stressed, although cadets are not a recruitment tool into the armed forces, they are an incredibly important tool for expanding social understanding of the military. Has the Minister looked at the role of the cadet forces in raising awareness of the value of our armed forces and the indirect impact they have on addressing the retention and recruitment crisis? I ask all of this in the context of the review into the cadets that he is conducting. Will he please set out further what the review is looking at, and how it will tie into the strategic defence review? The Minister is a proud champion for the wider armed forces community, including the cadets, so I very much look forward to hearing him speak on this important topic.

16:15

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I welcome this debate, and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for securing it. I also thank him for inviting me to his constituency, where I met his cadet force. The questions I was asked by the cadets were as difficult to answer to those we get from the Opposition. It was inspiring to see such young people, who were full of life of life and energy, holding me to account when I went down to visit. I thought it was absolutely superb.

I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) that there are a couple of statistics that are really useful at outlining the social benefits of cadets to the UK and the youth of the nation. If the cadet experience helps to change the life outcomes of just 1% of cadets a year, so that they are in employment, education or training, the annual costs of the cadet forces would be covered. That is a fantastic statistic, which shows that this is a spend-to-save model.

In terms of health and wellbeing alone, participation in cadet forces produces an average annual return of between £90 million and £120 million each year. Each year, it is estimated that the lifetime value of vocational qualifications gained by the most disadvantaged cadets is well over £130 million. When we start racking and stacking those costs, the benefits of cadets far outweigh some of the effort and energy to get it moving in the first place. Finally, adult volunteers, who the cadets rely on so heavily, benefit from being in the cadet force and can gain qualifications that can generate a total increase in potential lifetime earnings of around £50 million. When we pool all that together, the impact and benefits of cadets are definitely not lost on me or the Government.

As one of the largest voluntary uniformed youth organisations, with roughly 130,000 people across the country, the cadet forces have two particular compelling benefits. First and most importantly, they transform young people’s sense of purpose and—I agree—boost their life chances. Secondly, cadets play a vital role connecting defence to society, at a time when there is perhaps more distance between the two than there has ever been in the past. That is crucial at a time of rising threats to Britain’s security. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell mentioned, we must really understand what service means.

Let us consider the first of those two points. Independent research has shown that cadets benefit in multiple ways from membership. Not only do they find it engaging, challenging and fun, but taking part in activities and gaining new experiences can be life changing. I recently went to see the Sea Cadets in my constituency with the professor from the university, and we talked through some of the benefits and really got into the weeds. I was encouraged not only by the individuals and children I saw going through that process, but by the amazing instructors. When we combine the two, the magic happens. That is the fundamental principle of the cadets.

Taking part in the activities and gaining new experiences can also be life changing for many. They improve, for example, their mental and physical wellbeing—an area where we know there is an increasing need across society. Cadets develop the self-confidence to achieve things they would otherwise never have attempted, or never had the opportunity to attempt. Perhaps even more valuably, if they do not achieve their objectives immediately, they develop the resilience to keep on going despite that. In the process, they might discover individual talents and attributes that may otherwise remain dormant.

For some, particularly those who may be struggled at school, participating in cadet forces improves their educational chances of success. School attendance and behaviour tend to improve among cadets, and they are far less likely to be excluded from school. Those who come from economically disadvantaged families are among the greatest beneficiaries.

Let us not forget those who step forward as the adult volunteers, as my hon. Friend mentioned. They are dedicated people who are the inspiration behind the cadet forces’ success. The volunteers, too, gain from the experience and learn new skills that can benefit their careers.

As I have said, cadets play a vital role in connecting defence with society. The membership of the cadets is significantly more diverse and geographically spread out than that of our armed forces. Young people become more aware of career options at an early age, and because cadets are more likely to have a wider spread of skills tested, they are better positioned to choose their future direction as they move forward. The cadet experience plays an important part in boosting awareness of the armed forces in both communities and schools, and this often encourages individuals to pursue a career in the military—although I restate that it is definitely not a recruitment tool. It broadens their experience, opportunities and options.

More than one third of service personnel spent time in the cadet forces, interestingly enough, and they are more likely to go on to lead, and to serve longer than other recruits. A large proportion of the regimental sergeant majors in the Army were cadets or came through Harrogate. The cadet forces give young people and adult volunteers a sense of service, a feeling of belonging, and pride in our country and national institutions, which is really important.

[Wendy Morton]

The Minister, like all of us here, is a great advocate for the cadet forces. On that basis, will he continue to make sure that they receive the funding that they need to keep the units alive and kicking and up and running?

[Al Carns]

I thank the right hon. Member for that comment. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that the funding for cadets continues, but also that funding is broadened out and going not just to certain schools, but to state schools and the more disadvantaged across society. Interestingly, I went to a state school and always wanted to join the cadets, but there was no cadet force available for me to join, so we have to spread the opportunity as well as possible. Interestingly, because of covid, and indeed a variety of other reasons, cadet funding went down from 2019 to 2024. It has stabilised now. We are doing a review of the cadets, which will be wrapped into the strategic defence review when it comes out. There will be more to follow in that case.

That is probably a good segue into some of the challenges. Establishing and running a cadet unit, either in the community or in a school setting, is not always easy, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell mentioned. There are issues with funding and human resources. With cadet numbers growing, attracting and retaining enough capable and motivated individuals to deliver the cadet experience is an ongoing challenge. We continue to work to encourage adults to join the cadets. We have recently made it an essential criterion for those companies that wish to achieve the gold standard of the employer recognition scheme that they show support to cadets and cadet force volunteers. Similarly, through the Cadet Vocational College, there is a range of opportunities for adult volunteers to gain nationally accredited vocational qualifications.

I would like to come to some of the questions posed by my hon. Friend. The role of adult volunteers, in addition to the other commitments that they have, piles a lot of pressure on some adult volunteers, but it is offset in some cases by the qualifications and benefits they can get. However, we need to do much more work to attract more people into the system. I was really interested and proud to see many of those volunteers receive MBEs in the last set of honours. All the uniformed adult volunteers are eligible for award of the Cadet Forces Medal after 12 years of service, and I saw many people wearing it with pride when I went to see the Sea Cadets in my constituency.

We are looking at whether there are sufficient numbers of volunteers, and I would like to see a process whereby we make it more attractive to be a volunteer. How can we ease that burden? How can we help them to balance their personal or professional life and their volunteer service? We will work on that in the future—it is coming out in the review. This is an issue that came out really strongly from the Army Cadets, the RAF and the Navy. How do we make it more attractive and how do we get more veterans, for example, to support the cadet services?

We are talking about the funding of cadet forces, and I mentioned broadening it out from private schools to state schools and the more disadvantaged areas and making it slightly more targeted to ensure better social mobility, and, importantly, looking at more innovative ways to support the funding and linkages to local units and support organisations that are close by. My hon. Friend also mentioned the cuts to CCF as a whole. I would reflect on the overall spending, which has stabilised —it has gone down over £11 million since 2019. We are looking at ways to ensure that there are more cadets and more opportunities for those who take part, but that will come out in the strategic defence review in due course. If my hon. Friend is content, I will move on to my closing remarks.

This Government are convinced—and I am convinced by what I have seen when visiting cadets all over the country, with Members from both sides of the House—that the benefits of the cadets are absolutely non-debatable. The benefits—not only for the young people who participate, but for the volunteers and society as a whole —and the statistics show that it is a spend-to-save programme.

The cadet forces represent excellent value for money. The research has found that defence expenditure on them results in a significant return on investment, not only in monetary terms but through the broader societal benefits. Although they are sometimes difficult to gauge, the analysis suggests that those benefits—for society, defence, and the young people and adult volunteers involved—are absolutely unequivocal. Therefore, while maintaining our current ambition to increase the number of cadets in schools, we are also looking to significantly grow the number of community cadets and broaden the programme to support youngsters throughout the UK to enrich their lives by choosing to join the cadets.

[Richard Foord]

In November last year, the Department for Education announced that it would end its £1.1 million grant for the expansion of cadet forces. Will the Ministry of Defence backfill, or make good on, the £1.1 million that the DFE intends to cut?

[Al Carns]

I thank the hon. Member for that question. I have had multiple discussions with the DFE about how, when the SDR comes out, we can ensure that there are opportunities for cadet forces across all schools, or as many as possible. That is definitely at the forefront of my mind, and it is included in the broader wrap of defence spending that will be pushed out in due course, after the strategic defence review.

To summarise, by providing as many opportunities as possible, we can support youngsters throughout the UK whose lives are enriched by choosing to join the cadets. It is a spend-to-save model, which, at a time of societal and geopolitical uncertainty, helps us to do our part by building community coherence and reconnecting Britain with its armed forces.

Question put and agreed to.